Field
These inventions relate to tie wrap anchor assemblies, including those with one or more plastic or nonmetal components, those that can accept cable ties for supporting cables, cable bundles, and other components on a support structure, and those that can be pivotable or self-aligning, as well as methods of assembly thereof.
Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,787 teaches a ring-post fastener for securing wires, tubes or hoses having a post and a plurality of spokes projecting radially from the post to a ring. One or more objects can be bundled with a tie strap and affixed to the ring by projecting one end of the tie strap through a slot back on itself to be locked to its opposite end. One end of the fastener includes a male threaded portion for securing the post to a support surface, and the opposite end includes female threads for receiving a male fastener on a second ring-post fastener, for example for stacking ring post fasteners together. The ring-post fastener is not freely rotatable.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,259 teaches a ring post assembly having a free-spinning hub, and which can be stackable. The ring post assembly includes an outer member in the form of a hub and an inner member in the form of a threaded fastener snap fit into the hub. The hub has a plurality of rungs equidistantly spaced about the hub, and four notches at one end for accepting complementary fingers of an adjacent ring post assembly.
A first goal of one of the inventions is to have tie wrap anchor assemblies using freely rotatable anchor blocks allow self alignment and a more stable assembly in operation.
Another goal of one of the inventions is to make easier pre-assembly of components and modular assemblies or subassemblies. For example, a rotatable anchor block in a tie wrap anchor assembly may allow pre-attachment of the assembly to a wire harness, bundle or other targets structure to be supported, after which the assembly can be mounted to the support structure as a unit. Additionally, multiple handling surfaces can be incorporated into the assembly to allow more versatility in installation and maintenance.
These and other benefits will become more apparent with consideration of the description of the examples herein.